


Close your eyes and hold out your hands

by Writing_in_SIN



Series: 100 Ways to Say 'I Love You' [33]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26320867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_in_SIN/pseuds/Writing_in_SIN
Summary: Emu's having a bad day but having Parad with him helps change that.
Relationships: Houjou Emu & Parad (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid), Houjou Emu/Parad
Series: 100 Ways to Say 'I Love You' [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538683
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	Close your eyes and hold out your hands

**Author's Note:**

> If you like, come scream at me on [Tumblr](https://writing-in-sin.tumblr.com) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Writing_in_SIN)

* * *

**"Close your eyes and hold out your hands."**

* * *

Emu's having a bad day.

Between difficult patients, their family members and even the staff, Emu is pretty close to losing his temper. But since that's not only bad practice in a hospital, Emu himself hates losing his temper. It doesn't happen often and the only person that Emu has ever trusted himself to be in a bad mood around is at the ministry for work.

Everything feels heavy and grating, and Emu just wants to hide away in a corner to play on his game console or better yet, curl up against Parad and take a nice, long nap together.

Instead, he grits his teeth and pastes a smile onto his face— taking extra care to muffle the bond so that his mood won't effect Parad.

 _'Fake it till you make it,'_ he thinks to himself. It's an old (and pretty bad) habit of his from childhood but he doesn't have much of an option at the moment.

There are instances when his temper threatens to snap (closest is against one of those 'monster parents'— who shut up very quickly when Emu's tone turned a little too frosty) but he does his best to power on through so that when it's finally time for his break, Emu quickly hides on the rooftop.

Lying on his back, Emu stares at the vast expense of the sky above him before he takes a breath and screams.

_"GODDAMMIT!"_

Breathe in...

Emu closes his eyes.

...Breathe out.

When he feels somewhat mollified, Emu throws an arm across his face with a sigh.

"Bad day?"

Jolting in surprise, he looks up to find Parad leaning over him with a sympathetic smile on his face.

Immediately, all the tension he feels just bleeds out of him at the sight of the person he loves most.

"...you could say that," he mumbles, taking the hand that Parad offers him. As his fingers curl around Parad's, he feels everything shift into normalcy, the vestiges of wrongness dispelled by the warmth of Parad's familiar touch.

This is what home feels like.

No sooner when he's on his feet, Emu buries his face against Parad's chest and hums in content when strong, lithe arms wrap around him. Tired and aching, he immediately feels safer in Parad's arms; like an unyielding shield against the outside world.

"I miss you," he breathes, taking comfort in Parad's familiar electrifying scent.

Parad kisses the top of his head. "Miss you too. You didn't need to muffle the bond, y'know?"

"I didn't want to trouble you," he confesses, voice barely a whisper and tightening his hold on Parad's waist.

Parad tips his chin up, eyes fond and exasperated. "Weren't you the one who said 'trouble me'? It's the same for me too, Emu."

"Sorry," Emu mumbles sheepishly. Then a thought crosses his mind. "Wait, what about work?"

Parad waves a hand. "It ain't going anywhere."

"Parad..." he groans, leaning his forehead on a sturdy shoulder. "You didn't have to do that for me."

Fingers run through his hair as Parad chuckles. "I wanted to, and don't worry, I made sure to finish what I was set out to do for the day." Smiling, the bugster shifts to nuzzle their faces together. "I didn't want to make you feel bad so I made sure of that before I came here."

"Oh." Warmth suffusing him at Parad's consideration for him, Emu bites his lip and wraps his arms around Parad's neck. "Then...you're done for the day?"

Parad nods with a beam. "Yup! I'm all yours for the rest of the day." The bugster makes a show of thinking hard on something before he grins. "Well, technically, I'm yours for the rest of forever but y'know, semantics."

A laugh bubbles out and oh, how Emu adores this remarkable person that he's given himself to.

"That's a relief to know."

And it really is, since he feels a lot better compared to the whole day he's been at work now that Parad is back.

Chuckling, his partner leans down to capture his lips and Emu moans in relief, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.

When they separate, Emu feels a different kind of dizzy and it's far more pleasant than the light headedness that's been a constant in his head for the betterment of an hour.

"Well," Parad muses as he cups his face, head tilting in that endearing way of his. "Since your break won't be over for another hour, why don't we go someplace else for lunch?"

Curious at the mischief in Parad's eyes, his lips twitch into a smile. "Where do you have in mind?"

"Somewhere only we know," Parad alludes with a cheeky grin. "Now, close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Emu does as he's ask, amused. "Oh, so it's a surprise?"

"Yep, so no peeking~!" Parad singsongs, large hands encasing Emu's own and he can hear the smirk in the bugster's voice as Parad leans close to whisper in his ear. "Or I'd have to punish you for being naughty."

Emu bites down a whimper when Parad slides a hand down his spine before giving his butt a playful slap.

"Duly noted," he chokes out as he tries to keep his mind away from the gutter and knows that he's failing when he hears Parad snickering. Emu huffs, mouth twisting into a mock scowl. "Jerk."

Parad hums, kissing his cheek. "But you love this jerk though."

"I do," he agrees without hesitation. "Very much."

Parad falls silent and he can feel from their connection that Parad is trying not to get overwhelmed at his admission. His heart aches in knowing that his partner still have moments where he feels that he's undeserving of love but Emu will never apologise for loving Parad and he's determined to make sure that Parad will accept that one day.

"Likewise, Emu." Parad leans their heads together. "So very much."

As Parad squeezes his hands, Emu feels the bugster brushing a kiss against his knuckles and when his lips linger, Emu blushes at the tenderness of the gesture. At times, he can't help feel a bit guilty on how spoiled he is by Parad but at the same time, Emu hoards these moments close like the treasures they are.

"Ready?" Parad asks, stepping close until their chests are pressed together.

Emu nods, smiling as he keeps his eyes closed. "Ready."

He feels the familiar pull in his navel as he and Parad teleports away from the hospital. When his feet are firmly on the ground again, Emu feels a tickling sensation brushing against his ankles not unlike grass.

Maybe they're at a park?

Before he can make any more guesswork, Parad squeezes his hands and murmurs. "You can open your eyes now."

Doing just that, Emu feels his eyes widening as his breath hitches at the sight that lays before him.

They're standing in a glade that spreads in a circular stretch of thick grass and low ferns penned in by towering redwoods. Not too far from where they are is a little river that cuts crosswise through the glade, curling into the basin of a cascade at its far end; shining like a mirror in the sunlight. Water runs in clear ribbons over a steep and rocky cliff face, framed on one side by the biggest shidarezakura tree Emu has ever seen, so big that it's branches dip to cover the whole basin in tendrils of pink.

"It's gorgeous," he breathes.

Parad breathes a soft laugh. "That's an understatement."

Grinning, he turns wide eyes to Parad, only to quickly blush when he finds that Parad isn't even looking at the glade at all— and is instead staring right at him; making it clear that Parad meant those words are for him. Emu coughs, flustered.

"I'm a mess," he protests, gesturing to his disheveled clothes. It _had_ been a bad morning after all.

Parad shrugs, unconcerned. "Doesn't make you any less gorgeous."

Fond and exasperated in equal measures, Emu can do nothing but close the gap between them; burying his fingers in soft curls and smiling into the kiss as Parad reels him close.

Turns out, Emu's bad day isn't so bad after all.


End file.
